Hen&#39;s nest



R. V. ALLEN HENS NEST Aug. 15, 1950 Filed June 11, 1948 Rufus V. Allen IN V EN TOR.

e openposition; e "Fieu'reIZ is aufront I ent. hen.s nest, and showing the doors 7 thereof in Patented Aug. 15 1950 NITED P A-mm j 2,518,588 HENS mist: Rurusvnnen, chino, cam; Applicationalunen, 1948, Serial N6. 32,409

to proyiole a nest having an entranbe .doicr' ,,an

, exitdoor and novel andimproved; means n'penatiyely connecting the said doors whereby the same will vbe simultaneously actuated to an open or closed position, l I

Another important object of the present inexerting a door closing; tome uponithe same that is insulficient to close the untilthe weight f a hen. is applied thereto, thuslnermittingrthe saidv entrance-door to-be swung into, a elosed position as; a hen enters the; nest,

. A iurther object of the, present inyentionlis ,te proitide a hens nest thatlis so designed as to .facilitate only a single hen to be disnosediwithin the same and which includes-a forward entrance :door which is aetuatedto an open position as: a

hen leaves the nest -through..an:--exit door, 7 -A- still iurth-eraim otthe present'inyentinn is to-proivide a hensnestthat is simple anclnractical construction, strong. and reliable in use,

small and=compacl1 in structure, neflazidattrae- Other objects and. advantages-reside. the details cffeonstructionand operatinn asrnore ill 11y hereinafter descriherland claimedmeterence' beinglhad to the accomnanying drawings formin part herecf, wherein like numeralsjrefer tojlike i partsithrnughouth andin which: v k v ,7 Figure .1 is a perspective .viiew olgthe present 'inyen'tien; and showing both doors. thereof 'in an eleuatiiona'l" view of thenres.

a' closed position; i

Figure Bisarear elevational iew of Figure"2;- and Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional; view taken substantially on the plane of section V l'lne 4-4 of Figure 3, and showing the *doors thereof in an open position. 1 7

Referring nolw to the drawings imcletail, wherein for the purpose of illustration, there is dis- Thisinuention relates to. new useful 1 movements in nests for hens and the likeiand lite-primary object of the present inventioniis an exitropening 24.

. on n s. Z2 a ,7 I ,i Hinged; as at 55' to the rear wall I14 of the opening 22;, and the rear wall Hli's providedwith Fixed to the iorwardiwalli l2, bye-"fly means is a transverse substantially horizontal fsuppprt beam '26 thatv is disposed in spaced parallelism to the lower edge 28 at the opening 22. Hingedto thensuppoift beam .26, as at 301,36.-

ja'cent its lower edge 32; is a Iorward or exit. door 34' that is, employed for closing the entrance "housing It a rear door or exit door 38 thatiis normally pivoted to a lowered position for closing the exit opening 24; z I i t a v Fixed to thelcwer portion of the" forward-wall i2, is a forwardly extending supportbra'cketfl having an upper bearings portion 42. that will en- 'gage. the door 34) to support the samecinasubstantially horizontalyosition y I Securedjto the bottom wall 13 0f the'housi-ng H5, is a plurality of pulleys, rollers or. thelike, 49 that engage a flexible element or cord. 4' 5. the ends of which are anchored tothe outer faces of the doors, 3t and 38 through the medium of suitable bracketst lfia This cord also. extends 7 through a suitable apertureprovided in the e)":-

-tive in :lappearance, relatively inexpenfsiwejto manufacture, and otherwise welladaptedfor the purposes for which. the same is v 1 closing forceupenthe' door 34 insuflic'ien't to close, the door until the weight'oi'. a'hen is abplied thereto and in which instance said $190113! 7 will swing upwardly to a. closed. positiommorla elesedf position;

position closing 'the'entranceropen ing Mann the rear door 38 will be 'pivoted 110a lowered and In antler to supper-t1thebottom wallflnofthe musing it above a; ground surfaceor, the like,

there nmvizlett a pair of legs 54 mucnsnu raisethe' bottem wallrvm sufiiciently to permit the nulleys M to anpliedf'thereto.

The rear exit' docs 3il'is previded with a sutstantiallyvshianed mates sweat w-ill aecemmo- 'date the; head 0i seen; for as aea ce iuf t r e 1 more 'feny apparentinthe rear {1091i .38, also be swung or. raised tolan open positicny 7 As a hen enters the housing In by way of the forward door 34, which acts as a platform or stand, and steps upon the counterweight 52, the forward door 34 will be swung upwardly to a position for closing the entrance opening 22 and the rear door 38 will be moved downwardly to a position for closing the exit opening 24, thus preventing more than one hen from entering the nest at a' single time.v When the-hen within the nest leaves or desires to leave the same, the said hen will place its head through the opening 56 and push forwardly upon the rear door 38 whereby the rear door will swing upwardly to an open position and effect a downward swinging and opening positioning of the forward door 34 to accommodate a further hen that may desire to. enter the nest.

It should be noted, that the pulleys 44 are so arranged that the end portion of the cord 46 .which is attached to the rear door 34 is so dispos'edlasnot to obstruct the notch or opening 56 provided in the rear door 38. This arrange- ,ment could be accomplished by swivelling the pulleys 44 to the bottom wall [8 or by providing groups of pulleys which are so arranged as to ,permit the said cord 46 to move forwardly and rearwardly without restriction.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the ,construction, operation and advantages of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It .is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferredembodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims. .d-Iaving described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

, 1. A hensnest comprisinga housing having a forward entrance opening and a rear exit opening, ,a forward door hinged to said housing and swingable upwardly for closing said entrance opening. a rear door hinged to said housing and swingable downwardly for closing said exit opening, pulleys carried by-said housing, a flexible element engaging said, pulleys and connectingsaid doors for opening of the forward door upon opening of the rear door, and means for limiting the downward swinging movement of said forward door, said means comprising a combined,

support for the forward door and a guide for the flexible element. V

I 2. A hens nest comprising a housing having a forward entrance opening and a rear exit opening, a forward door hinged to said housing and.

swingable upwardly for closing said entrance opening, area'r door hinged to said housing and swingable downwardly for closing said exit opening, said'rear door having an opening therein for receiving the head portion of a hen, a flexible connecting member between said doors, said forward door being actuated to a lowered and open position upon opening of. said rear door by a hen pushing upon the latter, said forward door forming a standin platformleading into the housing when the same is in a loweredand open position, means carried by said forward door exerting a door closing force on said forward door insuflicient to close the door until the weight of a hen position, and a guide carried by said support slidably receiving said connecting member.

3. A hens nest comprising a housing having a forward entrance opening and a rear exit opening, a forward door hinged to said housing and swingable upwardly for closing said entrance opening, a rear door hinged to said housing and swingable downwardly for closing said exit opening, said rear door having an opening therein for receiving the head portion of a hen, a flexible element connecting said doors for simultaneous opening movement thereof, said forward door being actuated to a lowered and open position upon opening of said rear door by a hen pushing upon the same, said forward door forming a standing platform leading into the housing when the same is in a lowered and open position, said forwarddoor including a lower end portion extendable into said housing when said forward door is in an open position, a counterweight carried by the lower end of said forward door exerting a door closing force on the forward door insuflficient to close the forward door until the weight of a hen is applied thereto, a support arm mounted on the housing for supporting the forward door in its open position, and a guide projecting laterally from said support arm slidably receiving said flexible element.

4; A hens nest comprising a housing having a forward wall and a rear wall, said forward wall having an entrance opening and said rear wall having an exit opening, a substantially horizontal support beam fixed to said forward wall, said entrance opening having upper and lower horizontal edges and said beam being disposed between the upper and lower edges of said entrance open ing and relatively close to the lower edge of said entrance opening a rear door hinged to said rear I wall and swingable downwardly for closing the exit opening, a substantially rectangular forward door having a lower edge, hinges carried by the forward door adjacent the lower edge thereof and secured to said beam, said forward door being swingable upwardly for closing the entrance opening, a counterweight carried by the forward door adjacent the lower edge thereof exerting a door closing force on said forward door insufllcient to closethe forward door until the weight of a hen is applied thereto, guide rollers carried by and depending from said housing, an elongated flexible element engaging said guide rollers and having upwardly extending end portions securedto said forward door and said rear door for opening of the forward door upon opening of the rear door, said rear door having a central opening, one end of said flexible element being secured to the rear door adjacent said central opening, a support arm secured to said forward wall for supporting the forward door in its .open position, and-a laterally projecting eye carried by said'arm slidably receiving said flexible element. 1 V

is applied thereto, a support carried by said housing for supporting the forward door in its open '7 RUFUS v. nnlnnnnnons CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent a UNITED sTAT 'Js PA'I'ENTS 

